PML-N meetings postponed

The Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary party board has postponed its Punjab and NWFP chapter meetings for discussions on prospective applicants for assembly seats in the upcoming general elections, sources said here on Friday.
The meetings have been postponed because of the hearing of the Supreme Court case petitioning PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif's return from exile. Sources said the meetings will now be rescheduled after August 23, the date on which the apex court is expected to deliver a judgement on the case. Previously, meetings were scheduled for August 15 in Peshawar and August 17 in Lahore.
Sources said a meeting for initial discussions on candidates from Balochistan, however, would go ahead as scheduled on August 21 as the party had already announced a public procession in Quetta on August 22, under the umbrella of the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM).
"The entire party leadership and all the board members are scheduled to be there, so the party decided to go ahead with the Balochistan meeting," Imran Liaquat, media advisor said. The meetings for discussions on applicants' prospects will be preliminary, and formal short-listing and interviews will take place in later meetings.
"In the first meetings board will only review the situation and discuss applicants prospects and other matters related to general elections." After short-listing, final meetings will be held either in Pakistan or in London in the presence of party leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, he said.
On PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif's directives, the party's central and provincial coordination committees sought applications from aspiring candidates for national and provincial assembly tickets from August 1 to August 15. He also directed committee members to submit their reports within a month to the party chief so that the final list of party candidates could be issued by end-September.
The party's 14-member parliamentary board includes acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, central secretary general Jhagra, Sir Anjam Khan, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, with Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa heading the Punjab committee, which comprised of Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, Ahsan Iqbal, Ghulam Dastgir Khan and others.